His friend wears necklaces and earrings, and he wants to advise him

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly: 

It is haraam for men to wear gold, because of the hadeeth narrated by Muslim (2090) from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) which says that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw a gold ring on a man’s hand. He took it off and threw it aside, and said: “Would one of you go and pick up a live ember of fire and hold it in his hand?” After the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had left, it was said to the man: Take your ring and benefit from it (by selling it). He said: No, by Allaah, I will never pick it up when the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has thrown it aside. 

Abu Dawood (4075), al-Nasaa’i (5144) and Ibn Maajah (3595) narrated from ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) took a piece of silk in his right hand and a piece of gold in his left and said: “These two are haraam for the males of my ummah.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

Ahmad (6556) narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever of my ummah wears gold and dies wearing it, Allaah will forbid the gold of Paradise to him, and whoever of my ummah wears silk and dies wearing it, Allaah will forbid the silk of Paradise to him.” Classed as saheeh by Shu’ayb al-Arna’oot in Tahqeeq al-Musnad. 

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Sharh Muslim: As for gold rings, they are haraam for men according to scholarly consensus. The same applies if they are partially gold and partially silver. End quote. 

As for fake gold, there is nothing wrong with wearing it, because it is not really gold, so it is not included in the ahaadeeth which forbid gold to men. But it is better not to wear it, because people may think badly of the one who wears it, and others may take him as an example and think that he is wearing real gold. 

As for gold plated items, what is agreed among the fuqaha’ many fuqaha’, is that if the layer of gold produces any amount of gold upon being scratched or exposed to fire, if  then it is haraam, but if it is simply a colour, and no gold can be produced from then there is nothing wrong with wearing it. 

See: al-Majmoo’ (4/327) and al-Insaaf (1/81). 

Secondly: 

It is permissible for a man to wear rings and watches that contain precious metals or stones – other than gold – such as diamonds, because the basic principle is that they are permissible, and there is no evidence to suggest that that is not allowed, unless they are part of women’s jewellery such as bracelets and necklaces, in which case that is not allowed. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (24/77): Wearing rings is permissible for men if they are made of silver or precious stones, except for gold. End quote.   

Thirdly: 

It is not permissible for a man to wear women’s jewellery, such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings, whether they are made of gold, silver or anything else, because that is imitating women, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed men who imitate women. This has been discussed in the answer to question no.1980 

Fourthly: 

You should advise your friend and explain to him that it is haraam for men to wear earrings, and that doing so includes a number of things that are haraam: (i) wearing something that contains gold; (ii) imitating women; (iii) imitating the kuffaar, because it is the custom in some kaafir societies for men to wear earrings. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.” Narrated by Abu Dawood (4031); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. 

We ask Allaah to guide us and you. 

And Allaah knows best.